Received EVGA RTX 3060 XC 12GB used GPU as a free gift, but experienced very poor overclocking results.
Received EVGA RTX 3060 XC 12GB used GPU as a free gift, but experienced very poor overclocking results.
The card is almost worn out. If stock keeps improving, it might last another five years or more if it continues to be refined, stress-tested, and occasionally upgraded. It’s unlikely it will fail after a year or two. More advice for running stock, but ultimately the OP has complete freedom.
memory clock remains acceptable to keep at stock, as the FPS gain is limited to around 300mhz when only adjusting it slightly, lol. core clock is still within normal range at 137.
I'm thinking about swapping the pads and paste on it.
It looks like the old ones are completely worn out. My friend has the same card and it performs better at higher temps, with less fan speed, and even handles overclocking better than mine.
But my rig is still getting hotter.
69-71°C during gaming when fans are running at maximum speed.
Honestly, if it runs fine at stock, I would just run it stock. As stated before, it's a mining card and it's kinda a small miracle it doesn't have issues at stock at all. Most aren't so lucky. I doubt you would feel much difference anyways, in most games it shouldn't make a huge difference between OC or not. But if you want to run it OC'd, feel free, just be aware that it might turn unstable after a while forcing you to adjust. Btw, did you try undervolting? Maybe that could help you as well.
undervolting just led me to lower overclock in general.
Its quite difficult to find stable point when undervolting. because its jumping around so much. and will randomly become unstable.
For normal offset overclocking theres a very precise point where it goes from 24/7 stable to obviously unstable between +137mhz and +150mhz core clock offset
Heaven benchmark was the best for finding instability out of the games and stress tests I tried.
Within a couple minutes at +150mhz crash in heaven
but fine 24/7 at 137mhz (140mhz is same as 137mhz)
Usually when gaming I'll see clock well above 2000mhz and sometimes touching 2100mhz for a short time.
It usually starts out at 2145mhz to 2100-something then gradually lowers until the temperature stabilizes. to just under 2100mhz. between 2030-2095mhz or so.
upping the power limit and getting lower temps is the best way to get more mhz core clock.
I'm thinking of making a really crude/cheap chiller setup just using part of the air from my window air conditioner and redirecting it with a hose to my pc. that will significantly lower my gpu temps very easily. and super cheap. which also increases clock frequency.
gpu draws less watts at same volts so it can boost higher. due to less temperature.
Consider whether the gap between stock settings and overclocking justifies the effort and cost involved. Reflect on whether you'll actually see a noticeable improvement in performance. Think about it—reaching 2100MHz only offers a 5% boost, which doesn't equate to a significant gain in gaming.
They're sure the operation will go their way. We've been urging them to step back and stop using the GPU to prevent any problems.
Power equals volts multiplied by amps. When power stays steady, reducing voltage leads to an increase in current. For example, if the card needs 300 watts at 1.4 volts, it draws about 214 amps from the VRM. Lowering the voltage to 1.3 volts results in roughly 230 amps from the same source. The GPU heat isn't as obvious here, but it still influences VRM temperatures, which aren't usually reported. This can impact stability based on power phases and VRM tolerances. A card with six power phases using 60A MOSFETs handles 230W well, while running at 40A and 214A is much more stable and less prone to failure compared to higher currents. With such tight performance differences now between CPUs and GPUs, the advantages of overclocking are nearly gone. The savings don't justify the costs.
The GPU manages to increase performance further while maintaining lower temperatures by adjusting its settings. At the same power capacity, the voltage rises and frequency climbs, shifting along the voltage/frequency curve. This happens regardless of power limits, as long as temperature decreases. How does it work? It’s quite unusual.
A GPU will increase performance until it reaches one of these boundaries: temperature, voltage it thinks is safe, maximum voltage it won’t go beyond, and power limits. If it doesn’t reach any of these, it will keep boosting. You can find out why it stops further boosting by checking HWiNFO under "GPU Performance Limiters" or GPU-Z in the Sensors Tab -> PerfCap Reason.